In lieu of being able to watch the movie "The King's Speech" because it hasn't been released yet, I ordered the book by the same name, written by Lionel Logue's grandson, Mark Logue, and his co-author, Peter Conradi. The book is a well-written biography of Australian-born speech therapist Lionel Logue and his work with Britain's Prince Albert when he was Duke of York in the 1920's and continuing on in the 1930's when "Bertie" became King - George VI - in 1936, and then afterward during WW2.

Albert, son of King George V and younger brother of Edward VIII, had developed a stammer during his youth, which made him shy and uncommunicative. As someone who has struggled all my life with a relatively mild stutter, I thought it was good that Mark Logue did not attribute the cause of Bertie's stammer to any one thing. Stuttering is an impediment which seems to arise from both/either physical and psychological reasons and most of the time cannot be properly ascribed to any one thing. In Bertie's case, it was possibly from a difficult youth. He and his siblings were not close to their parents - as was common in those days - and his parents seemed to rather scare him when they were together. A sadistic nanny and the changing of his left-handedness to right may have contributed to his stutter. In any case, he was a man who could not always control his own speech, and he was moving into some situations where he would be called on to speak publicly and to do so often.

After his marriage, Bertie consulted Lionel Logue who had emigrated to England from Australia with his wife and young family and set up a practice in speech therapy in London's Harley Street. After much practice, Bertie was able to give speeches, but he depended on Lionel Logue's continued help as he became king - first in peacetime and then in wartime. The many speeches by radio that George was called on to make in the 25 or so years of his rule were always difficult for him, but Logue's work made them bearable to the king. Logue and George VI became friends - of a sort - because of their work together.

Mark Logue and Peter Conradi were able to look through Lionel Logue's case files and put together a very good record of Logue's work with George VI. Whether Lionel Logue "saved the monarchy" is a bit in doubt, but he did give confidence and success to the George VI when he - and the nation and the Commonwealth - needed it the most.

A note to the authors, Wallis Simpson was from Maryland, not Pennsylvania.

The King's Speech0857381105Mark LogueQuercusThe King's SpeechWelcome
"How one Man Saved the Monarchy"...
In lieu of being able to watch the movie "The King's Speech" because it hasn't been released yet, I ordered the book by the same name, written by Lionel Logue's grandson, Mark Logue, and his co-author, Peter Conradi. The book is a well-written biography of Australian-born speech therapist Lionel Logue and his work with Britain's Prince Albert when he was Duke of York in the 1920's and continuing on in the 1930's when "Bertie" became King - George VI - in 1936, and then afterward during WW2.

Albert, son of King George V and younger brother of Edward VIII, had developed a stammer during his youth, which made him shy and uncommunicative. As someone who has struggled all my life with a relatively mild stutter, I thought it was good that Mark Logue did not attribute the cause of Bertie's stammer to any one thing. Stuttering is an impediment which seems to arise from both/either physical and psychological reasons and most of the time cannot be properly ascribed to any one thing. In Bertie's case, it was possibly from a difficult youth. He and his siblings were not close to their parents - as was common in those days - and his parents seemed to rather scare him when they were together. A sadistic nanny and the changing of his left-handedness to right may have contributed to his stutter. In any case, he was a man who could not always control his own speech, and he was moving into some situations where he would be called on to speak publicly and to do so often.

After his marriage, Bertie consulted Lionel Logue who had emigrated to England from Australia with his wife and young family and set up a practice in speech therapy in London's Harley Street. After much practice, Bertie was able to give speeches, but he depended on Lionel Logue's continued help as he became king - first in peacetime and then in wartime. The many speeches by radio that George was called on to make in the 25 or so years of his rule were always difficult for him, but Logue's work made them bearable to the king. Logue and George VI became friends - of a sort - because of their work together.

Mark Logue and Peter Conradi were able to look through Lionel Logue's case files and put together a very good record of Logue's work with George VI. Whether Lionel Logue "saved the monarchy" is a bit in doubt, but he did give confidence and success to the George VI when he - and the nation and the Commonwealth - needed it the most.

A note to the authors, Wallis Simpson was from Maryland, not Pennsylvania.
Jill Meyer28 Nov. 2010

Overall: 5

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yes, i have now seen the film. i don't really remember much about Logue, but i thiught Rush's performance very fine indeed. but am not sure if he or Firth fully UNDERSTOOD the terrible AGONIES a stutterer can go through.

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Mrs A - good points about Firth and Rush understanding the agonies a stutterer goes through on a daily basis, every time they open their mouths. I've seen the movie now, too, and think both were excellent performances.

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I find this all very interesting as my father (born in 1928) was left-handed. Because they bound his left hand at school to make him write with his right hand he too developed a stammer, and then they stopped him from speaking all together to try and cure it and he had to wear a notebook around his neck and write what he wanted to communicate... He was eventually sent aged 12 to Navy School to board and was taught to swim by being thrown in at the deep end! He was 38 when I was born, a very different and quiet man. He was ambidextrous by then and only stammered slightly when he was tired. I am looking forward to seeing Colin Firth's performance in the film and will read this book knowing my Dad didn't have the speech therapy money could buy, but made his own way to be heard in this world....

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Jill, you say Bertie's parents seemed to rather scare him. This is an understatement. If you read David's (Edward 8) letters to his mistress during WW1 (Letters From A Prince ed Rupert Godfrey) you will know that George 5 was a terrible bully who terrified his children even when they were grown up. eg He insisted on absolute punctuality and when the Duke of Gloucester, aged 18, was late to breakfast, he fainted with fear of his father's reaction. With reference to David (Edward 8, then Duke of Windsor) he were sent by the British govt to Bermuda as Governor during the war as he was too sympathetic to the Germans. Hitler intended putting him on the throne when he conquered Britain. Wallis and David hated Bermuda. More interesting information in Wallis and Edward; Letters 1931-1937 ed Michael Bloch and another, I can't remember the title of, detailing their lives after the abdication.

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Thanks for your note, Susanna. I do know that George V was a terrible bully to his children, "I was scared of my father and my own children will be scared of me" or something to that effect.

I just hated to state so absolutely in a review in case I was called on it for "exaggeration". So I bent the opposite way and you called me on that!!

By the way, do you know there's a new biography - it seems - coming out about Wallis Warfield Simpson? Called "Behind Closed Doors" by Hugo Vickers, the "royals writer". It's to be published in early April in the UK. Has a rather melodramatic subtitle, "The Tragic Untold Story of the Duchess of Windsor". Are you familiar with it?